Loblo Nutsmasher

Background


Hailing from the harsh desert surrounding the Saline Settlements, the Nutsmashers were a famed Gnomish clan of artisinal confectioners renowned for their ability to distill the extract of the indomitable Ironwood Nuts of the great desert into wonderful and spellbinding feats of baking. Travelers would traverse vast distances to flock to the door of the Nutsmashers and furtively plead to barter their wares for a taste of the gnomes' creations.

However, it was the mythical Nut-Thela that was their most renowned product. This concentrated elixir of pure Ironwood extract along with a secret blend of herb and spices have been known to cause wars to erupt and kingdoms to tumble. To merely describe its taste would be akin to attempting to unravel the secret of the universe, it was said to dance along your taste buds and cause visions to erupt upon its merest scent. It was pure ecstasy distilled and was said to have robbed the taste of Heaven itself. Whomever holds the means to the production of this miracle concoction would hold power and riches beyond their ken.

Thus, it was a closely guarded secret amongst the Clan of the Nutsmashers, fiercely guarded and only passed down from father to eldest son upon their deathbed. Seeing as to how Loblo was the seventh in a long string of sons, it would be a long day indeed before his grandfather passed the secret to his father and later to his eldest brother. Dissatisfied with the way of the situation and overcome with the fires of avarice Loblo set out into the world to learn all he could of the art of stealth, pilfering, subjugation and other roguish trades all in the attempt to win the glory and the secret of the Nut-Thela for himself.

Ten long years passed while Loblo wandered the cities and the surroundings along the Aegis, arming himself with any knowledge that might be useful in prying the secret from his family's patriarch. After that decade, Loblo decided that he was finally ready to test his mettle in his first attempt and journeyed back to his family's home.

It was a cruel twist of fate as Loblo arrived at his ancestral dwelling only to see it charred and burning to the ground. Hurrying inside, he found that his whole clan had been massacred, slaughtered down unto the last babe, there was none alive. His grandfather's body was found in three pieces, seeming as if to fend off attackers. Of the secret of the Nut-Thela there was no trace, presumably dead along with his family. Refusing to accept this turn of events, Loblo set out to St Pellegrino to find out leads that would lead him to vengeance and to wrest the secrets of the Nut-Thela from Death himself. As he wanders the streets pondering his next move, he sees a group of travelers carrying a flask that might seem interesting...

Death
As the party made their way into the desert towards the Brightlands in order to continue with their quest to purify the relic, the ground started to quake, and Iggy, Skor and Auder suddenly fell into a fissure created by the shifting sands. Loblo and Gummi pursued after.

Realizing that a loud rumbling sound was approaching, they quickly gathered and tried to make it out of the hole. One by one, each person managed to make it out safely, except for Auder, since his armor was restricting him. The others quickly dropped rope down for him, but in a surprising turn of events, Loblo leapt down, clung unto Auder and cut the rope, forcing the both of them to fall back into the pit.

Surviving the fall, Loblo quickly rummaged through Auder's belongings and made off with the relic, while Auder went unconscious from the drop. Unfortunately, it was too late: A giant purple sandworm burrowed through the tunnel, and with great searing heat and force, Auder's body disappeared. The sand that once stood instantly became glass. Because of the shear destructive power of the sandworm, even Loblo would not survive the escape.

Because of the tragic turn of events, the three remaining survivors headed back to the Saline Settlements where they announced the tragedy to the High Monk of Dettol.